The coast is nice, but we are continually drawn back to the hills

Once again, we left our campsite upon waking up. It's been easy to find free overnight spots, but the last several have been located where we don't get any morning sun, so we move on right away to find a sunny spot to have breakfast.

And on that note... the sunshine and blue sky continues! Our Australian winter started off cool and wet, but the last few weeks have been nothing but gorgeous sunny skies.

Here is the view from our breakfast spot this morning...

Just another Australian beach.

If you are a beach person, then Australia is certainly the place for you. We are not beach people, but have been hanging around the coast because it's warmer than up in the hills!

Today, we decided to head up in the hills though. We found a trail in Murramarang National Park that led up to a lookout at the top of Durras Mountain.

But, they wanted $8 to park the car, which I thought was a little ridiculous. So I found a back way trail that led to the same viewpoint... with free parking. It was uphill every step of the way, but fortunately it was only 2.2 kms (1.5 miles) one way.

We were due for some exercise, so it was an enjoyable hike... but the view from the top wasn't spectacular,

View from the top of Durras Mountain.

Ruth, enjoying the view.

On the trail back down.

Then, we decided on the old highway... which is nothing but a dirt road... that leads through a state forest area.

You cannot free camp in a National Park in Australia... only in designated campgrounds. Some of which might be free, but it has to be in a designated space. However, in State Forest areas, you can just find a spot that suits you and stay for the night.

So that's what we did.

Camped for the night at GPS -35.558878, 150.262861

It was still fairly early, so I had an afternoon nap! 

Then, it was our standard backgammon/happy hour with just the two of us.

It's going to be a little chillier tonight though... even at only 600 ft in altitude, we could already notice the coolness in the air after the sun went down.

And tomorrow might be even colder at night. We've got a plan to go further into the hills to do a hike that includes some caves. Again, it's supposed to be beautiful during the day, so the hiking should be spectacular. It's the evening coolness that we may or may not hang around for!

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95' Backyard Zipline Kit. Our grandkids have a similar one in their backyard. They love it!

And in Canada...

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